Homecoming
by JustDeedee
Summary: Karma is indeed a chameleon, as Wyatt is about to learn. Will he figure out what really matters before it's too late? AU Lyatt romance/pregnancy/family with lots of help (thank goodness) from Rufus and Jiya, starting near the end of 1x13.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N My first attempt at FF, for what it's worth. This is what happens when the-network-that-shall-not-be-named strings me along for over a month and then cancels the only show I watch.**

 **Disclaimer: If I owned Timeless, I wouldn't be making up stories to fill the void in my heart where Season 3+ should be.**

Rufus reluctantly unfastened his safety harness as the Lifeboat shuddered to a halt. It had been a hell of a night, and unfortunately it wasn't over yet. If Agent Christopher didn't tear him a new one for helping Wyatt steal the time machine, Jiya most definitely would. But at least he'd get to sleep in his own bed tonight for a change. Probably. Maybe. Assuming they didn't throw him in a jail cell. How had he let Wyatt talk him into this again?

Turning in his seat, Rufus eyed the man in question. "Ready to face the firing squad?"

Wyatt winced, panting from the overwhelming vertigo that always accompanied time travel. "Uh…just give me a minute, OK?" Physical distress aside, he needed that minute to collect his thoughts, and to prepare for what was to come.

For five years, Wyatt's life had consisted of little but whisky, work, and trying to solve his wife's murder. What would life be like for him now that he and Rufus had rewritten history, now that Jessica was alive again?

Though he might be half insane _(war and grief did that to a person, and he'd had more than his fair share of both in his relatively short lifetime)_ , Wyatt wasn't foolish enough to think that it would all be smooth sailing from here on out. Best case, he'd probably need some counseling to learn how to be a decent husband again. Worst case, he'd be court-martialed, and spend the rest of his life behind bars for stealing top-secret government property. But while he didn't relish either prospect, he'd gladly bear whatever was required of him. His wife was _alive_ again, and what could possibly be worse than the years of abject misery that he'd already endured without her?

On that thought, Wyatt scrambled from his seat. "Let's do this, Rufus."

Rufus flipped the necessary switch, and watched with trepidation as the Lifeboat door slid open. He knew what was coming — had known since before they'd embarked on their little joyride to 1983. Still, he didn't look forward to seeing his friend hauled off like a common criminal. Nor did he welcome the likelihood of having to continue to chase that psycho Flynn through time without Wyatt at his back, but that at least was a problem for another day.

Wyatt nodded solemnly and clapped Rufus on the shoulder, unable to put into words his gratitude for everything that the man had done for him. Then, taking one last fortifying breath, he stepped out onto the tarmac, hands already raised in surrender. His fervent hope was that, if he went peaceably, the powers-that-be would at least let him see Jessica _once_ before they tossed him in jail.

As expected, Agent Christopher and Conor Mason were waiting for Wyatt at the end of the platform. But much to his surprise, neither of them looked the slightest bit angry. In fact, Wyatt realized, they looked extremely relieved — excited even — to see him.

This was not at all what he or Rufus had anticipated. Where was the rage, the condemnation? For that matter, where were the armed guards? Wyatt scanned the hangar, but saw no sign of anyone other than the usual Mason Industries staff.

"You made it! We were beginning to get worried. The Mothership landed over three hours ago. Was there a problem? Other than Garcia Flynn getting away again? Did you at least figure out what he was after this time?" Agent Christopher rushed Wyatt, regaling him with all of the usual post-mission questions.

Baffled, Wyatt looked over his shoulder to Rufus. His teammate merely shrugged, equally puzzled by the ostensible normalcy to which they'd returned.

"And what's with the hands, Master Sergeant?" Gesturing to his still-raised arms, Agent Christopher eyed him quizzically "Expecting an ambush?"

"Well, Lucy's 'welcome back' hugs _can_ be a bit enthusiastic," Mason quipped as he approached the team. Chuckling, he gave Wyatt a comparatively mild 'welcome back' hug of his own, and then proceeded to do the same with Rufus.

 _Lucy._ Wyatt and Rufus exchanged a knowing glance. This must be her doing. She was supposed to just buy them some time to steal the Lifeboat without getting caught, but it seemed that she had bought them something far more precious.

Feeling ashamed _(and yes, heartbroken, though he wasn't going to touch that feeling with a ten-foot pole)_ over the callous way that he'd treated Lucy the night before, Wyatt wondered what, exactly, she had told Agent Christopher about this so-called 'mission' that he and Rufus had undertaken. Whatever it was, he owed his friend big-time for saving his worthless hide _(again)_.

'Friend'… _were_ he and Lucy still friends? Probably not, to her way of thinking. After all, he'd basically told her _(as he'd been telling himself for months)_ that she meant nothing to him — that everything, including her, was worth sacrificing if it meant that he'd get Jessica back. He'd reduced Lucy to tears, purposely ignoring her obvious _(mutual)_ need for comfort, and then still had had the nerve to ask her to help him steal the time machine to bring back his dead wife. Yeah, Wyatt was a 'grade A douche nozzle', to quote Rufus. Lucy would undoubtedly be far better off without his particular brand of 'friendship'.

"Well, don't just stand there. Go get cleaned up and changed. Debriefing in my office in fifteen." Agent Christopher patted the two time travelers on the back, and then turned her attention to her cellphone, which had just begun to buzz with an incoming call.

Neither man needed to be told twice. Recognizing the agent's dismissal for the miraculous reprieve that it was, Rufus and Wyatt immediately dashed towards the locker room.

"Hold up, Master Sergeant," Agent Christopher called after them.

"Ma'am?" Wyatt glanced back at her, slowing his pace.

"Call your wife ASAP." She commanded, pointing to her own phone to indicate that that's who that last call had been from. "That's an order."

"Sure thing, ma'am." He grinned, fighting back the tears stinging at the backs of his eyes. They'd really _done_ it. Against all odds, he and Rufus had brought Jessica back.

As soon as their superior was out of earshot, Rufus tugged Wyatt to a halt. "Dude," he squealed, "We stole a time machine, saved your wife's life, _and_ got away with it! We are _so_ totally Han Solo and Chewbacca right now!"

"Easy there, Chewbacca," Wyatt teased his nerdy friend. "We still have a debriefing to get through, for a 'mission' we know nothing about. Call Lucy and find out what she told Christopher. I need to check on Jessica." Leaving Rufus to take care of business _(he didn't have the courage to talk to Lucy yet himself_ ) _,_ Wyatt headed for his locker.

"Right, good thinking," Rufus called after him. "You call your wife, and I'll call…. Wait a minute, why am _I_ Chewbacca?"

Wyatt yanked open the locker door, and snatched up his cellphone, more than eager to hear Jessica's voice again. Though he'd never admit it to anyone, he'd had trouble remembering the sound of it lately. Time was a dirty rotten thief _(it had absolutely nothing to do with spending so much time in the company of a certain historian)_ , stealing bits and pieces of his wife's memory from him with each passing day. But he was about to remedy that once and for all.

He scrolled through his contacts in search of Jessica's number, not trusting the one that he knew by heart to still be in service. Sure, he'd circumvented her murder, so logically the number _should_ still be the same. But Wyatt knew all too well how fickle time travel could be. More often than not, even when they managed to preserve the 'big picture', the team came home to minor changes, like altered phone numbers, or clothes that they didn't remember owning stowed in their lockers. Hadn't Wyatt spent hours _(all night)_ talking _(hugging)_ Lucy down from a panic attack just last week over the possibility of an all-new _(fake)_ fiancé after she'd discovered a different engagement ring in her locker than the one _(that douchebag)_ Noah had given her? Of course, if she'd taken his _(totally disinterested)_ advice and broken off her _'_ engagement' months ago, the whole _(cuddling on Wyatt's living room couch)_ situation could have been avoided.

Not finding an entry for Jessica in his contacts, Wyatt searched again under possible nicknames. No reason to panic — most of his friends were listed under nicknames, after all. And sure enough, there she was: _'Love of My Life'._ Wyatt clicked the call button, and paced anxiously back and forth in front of his locker as he waited for Jessica to answer.

One ring, two, three….

Wide-eyed and looking rather alarmed, Rufus suddenly rushed to Wyatt's side, waving his own cellphone at his friend. "Wyatt! Dude, don't call…."

Wyatt held up a single finger, signaling the man to wait, as the call was finally picked up on the other end of the line.

"Wyatt, where the hell have you _been_? I've been calling and calling! Didn't Agent Christopher give you my message?" The intimately familiar sound of her voice, now raised in obvious anger, blasted Wyatt full-force. "My water broke 20 minutes ago, and the contractions are three minutes apart. Jiya's driving me to the hospital now, so you're going to have to meet us there. Please hurry. I don't want to do this by myself, Wyatt."

Stunned beyond speech, and unable to process any of what she was saying, Wyatt held the phone, hand trembling, away from his ear.

Rufus snatched Wyatt's phone mid-air as it tumbled towards the concrete floor. "Don't worry," he spoke into the receiver. "I'll get him there in time. Yeah, no problem. Just…just focus on getting through the contractions, and tell Jiya to text me the room number, OK? Will do. OK. Really, it's no problem. Yep, see you soon." He ended the call, and handed the phone back to Wyatt, studying his friend with concern.

"That was…," Wyatt trailed off, staring down at his phone as if it were a snake that had already bitten him once and that might soon again if he wasn't careful.

"Lucy," Rufus confirmed soberly. "AKA 'your wife'."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N Oh my gosh you guys, thank you so much for welcoming me to the FF community with all your kind reviews and follows on this story! I'm really rusty at creative writing (it's been *many* years), but am so in love with this show and these characters. Thanks for sharing in that love, and helping me hold on to them a little longer.**

 **Also, a couple quick notes about this chapter, lest anyone get confused: Due to the timeline shift, Wyatt and Rufus have a slightly different view of things right now than Lucy and Jiya do. Also, Rufus' 'Marty' references are from _Back to the Future_ , for anyone who hasn't seen the film. :-)**

 **Disclaimer: Nope. Still don't own Timeless, but if I ever win the lottery...**

Lucy snickered as she disconnected the call.

"What? Did Rufus say something funny?" Jiya smiled over at her friend, thankful for whatever had brought on that laugh. Between Wyatt haring off after Flynn last night, and Lucy going into labor while he was away, the last few hours had been increasingly stressful for Lucy _(and for Jiya as well)_.

"No. I'm pretty sure that Wyatt went into shock when I told him that my water broke. The guy doesn't even flinch when Rufus digs a bullet out of his side – without any anesthetic, mind you – but freaks out at the thought of a little amniotic fluid? Can you imagine how he's going to react when it's time for him to cut the baby's umbilical cord?"

Lucy burst into giggles at the thought of the big, tough soldier face-planting on the delivery room floor. OK, maybe it was wrong of her to laugh at the idea of Wyatt getting hurt. But honestly, a good knock upside the head was the _least_ that the man deserved for running out on her just when she needed him most.

Seriously — what had Wyatt been thinking? Sure, Flynn had jumped, which was always a threat to their reality, but that's exactly why they had the back-up team now, wasn't it? Heck, it had been Wyatt's _idea_ to bring on that second team, to fill in after the doctors had grounded Lucy from time travel. He'd been stubbornly adamant about not risking a possible timeline shift by traveling without her. So why had he changed his mind now?

Something about last night's 'mission' just didn't add up, and Lucy was afraid that she knew exactly what that something was. Feeling the start of another contraction, she tried to focus on her breathing, and not on the blonde-haired, brown-eyed ghost who haunted her marriage.

"Another one already, huh?" Jiya reached across the seat, offering her hand for Lucy to squeeze if she needed it. "Don't worry, we're almost there, and the guys aren't far behind."

Lucy groaned and nodded, squeezing Jiya's hand for all she was worth, and breathing away the pain in her belly and back. Now if only she could dispel the ache in her heart so easily.

"Hey." Accurately sensing the shift in Lucy's mood, and the likely direction of her thoughts, Jiya attempted to reassure her friend. "You do know how much Wyatt loves you, don't you? He might be a dumbass sometimes, and yeah, the guy's still wrestling with some pretty serious demons. But he'd never do anything to hurt you if he could possibly help it."

Lucy shrugged, fighting back tears. She was so tired of crying, and if she started again now, she might never stop. Besides, she needed to conserve her rapidly waning energy for what was still to come. "That's the problem, Jiya. I don't think Wyatt _can_ help it. I mean, yeah, he loves me, in a way. But not like he loved _her_ – not like he _still_ loves her."

"He loved you enough to marry you, Lucy," Jiya reminded her softly. Whether Lucy recognized it or not, Jiya knew that that was no small thing — not for Wyatt. The tragic death of his first wife had wreaked such tremendous havoc on that poor guy's mind and heart that, for years, he hadn't allowed himself to risk even _caring_ about anyone again. So for him to have taken the _much_ riskier step of _marrying_ Lucy? Well, that would _never_ have happened in a million years if Wyatt didn't love Lucy one heck of a lot.

"Yeah, sure," Lucy snorted, " _After_ he knocked me up. You know as well as I do what a gentleman Wyatt is. What else _could_ he do? But the thing is, if he could go back and undo it, Jiya, I'm pretty sure that he would."

Seeing the obvious disagreement on her friend's face, Lucy felt something snap inside her. And there went the waterworks again, damn it. "Did you know that he still dreams about Jessica nearly every night — still calls out for her in his sleep?" she sobbed. "Or how about the fact that half the time, when we're making love, he calls me by _her_ name, without even realizing it?"

"Oh my gosh, Lucy." Jiya winced at her friend's revelation. That was just... _horrible_ , and so _not_ the kind of thing that she would ever have expected _Wyatt_ , of all people, to do. Never mind the fact that he loved Lucy to distraction — he truly _was_ a gentleman through and through. But if Lucy said that's what he'd been doing, well, then Jiya had no choice but to believe her, did she? Jiya couldn't begin to imagine how she'd feel if Rufus ever did something like that to her even _once_ , let alone repeatedly. How had Lucy managed, keeping this to herself all this time?

"Yeah." Lucy sniffled, trying to regain some control. "That's how much he 'loves' me, Jiya. I'm just...I'm so fucking tired of competing with a _ghost_. And you know what? If I find out that that's what last night's 'mission' was really about…." She moaned, squeezing Jiya's hand hard as another painful contraction set in.

Though Lucy never finished her sentence, she didn't have to. Jiya understood perfectly now what was at stake. Something was seriously amiss with Wyatt if he was treating Lucy that way, and while Jiya wasn't normally one to meddle in other people's relationships, she couldn't, in good conscience, just sit back and watch the train wreck happen. She had a thing or two to say to Wyatt Logan, and if the man knew what was good for him, he'd sit down, shut up, and listen like the good little soldier that he was.

* * *

Wyatt shook his head, trying but failing to make sense of what had just happened. "What? No. That's not…." Not what? Possible? Probable? _(Everything he could ever hope for, but didn't dare allow himself to dream?)_ "I just…misdialed," he rationalized.

'Love of My Life'…'Lucy'…two 'L' names that were undoubtedly right next to each other in his phone contacts, but that couldn't possibly be synonymous. He must have just accidentally _(subsconsciously?)_ pressed the wrong one. He scrolled back through the list of names, desperate now to hear Jessica's voice, to ground himself in reality.

"You didn't misdial." Rufus wrenched Wyatt's phone from his hand, blocking him from attempting a second call. "Look, something we did in 1983 changed the timeline. And not in the 'Marty got a shiny new truck' kind of way. No, this is definitely more a 'Marty's parents didn't get together, and his sister got erased from the family photo' kind of thing. Except apparently you and Lucy _did_ get together, and _added_ a kid to the photo."

"Lucy and I…we…it was just playing a role, Rufus. I didn't even take my pants off!" Wyatt stammered, heat blossoming in his cheeks _(and other sensitive areas)_ at the unbidden memory of laying in that narrow bed next to Lucy back in 1934 Arkansas. Her bare arm brushing restlessly against his, the taste of her lips still on his, whispered words of 'possibilities' _(inevitabilities?)_ hanging in the air between them. Possibilities that he'd been too terrified at the time _(and every other time the feel of her mouth moving against his had crept into his thoughts)_ to allow himself to consider.

Rufus quirked an eyebrow at his obviously flustered friend. "Um…you and Lucy 'roleplaying'? Definitely _not_ what I was talking about. But just for future reference, it usually works better _without_ pants, buddy. Something 'other you' seems to have figured out, at least, because, yeah, baby onboard and all that."

"Baby?" The word startled Wyatt from his _(can't-go-there-Jessica's-alive-again)_ thoughts. "What the hell are you talking about, Rufus? Jessica and I never had any kids. You know that."

"Dude! Have you been listening at _all_?" Rufus sighed, scrubbing his hands over his face in frustration. "We. Changed. The. Timeline. I don't know how it happened. Maybe the universe was just as sick of waiting for you to get your head out of your ass and see what was right in front of you as the rest of us were. But whatever, it _happened_ , Wyatt. You're married to Lucy now. _Not_ Jessica. And she — Lucy, your _wife_ — is on her way to the hospital as we speak to give birth to your kid."

"Whoa, whoa — time out. You're saying that we _didn't_ bring Jessica back?" Wyatt frowned at Rufus for a moment in confusion, before his eyes suddenly grew wide in alarm, the rest of what Rufus had just said finally beginning to register. "And that I'm married to _Lucy_ now, and she's...she's having a baby? _My_ baby?"

Rufus could practically see Wyatt's brain reboot, all systems apparently back online. About damn time. "Hallelujah, give the man a cigar! Although really, it should be you passing out the cigars today. Speaking of which, we seriously need to hit the road before…."

Wyatt raced from the locker room before Rufus could even finish his sentence. OK, maybe not quite _all_ systems back online, Rufus amended his original observation. Counting off the seconds in his head, he stood next to Wyatt's locker, and waited for the man to return. 6…7…8….

"I, uh, forgot the car keys," Wyatt sheepishly admitted as he ran back into the room.

Rufus chuckled, gesturing between his friend's outmoded clothing, and the locker that was still hanging open. "Is that _all_ you forgot?"

Wyatt looked down at his acid-washed jeans and cringed. "I'll just uh…yeah. Give me five minutes." He snatched the tidy pile of belongings from his locker, and dashed towards the shower.

"Better make that _two_ minutes," Rufus called after him as he read the incoming text from Jiya on Wyatt's phone. Because, shit - that thing he'd said to Wyatt earlier about 'getting away with it'? Apparently not.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: You all are so awesome! Thank you so much for your kind comments! My apologies for not replying directly to reviews - I still haven't figured out how to do that LOL! (Any tips would be greatly appreciated!) Hope this chapter meets your expectations. More to come soon, just as fast as I can write it around real life commitments.**

"Alrighty, ma'am. Let's get you into a gown, and then we can check and see how everything's coming along." Taking Lucy gently by the arm, the nurse guided her into the birthing room.

"Don't _'ma'am'_ me," Lucy grumbled, shaking off the younger woman's hold. "What do I look like — your _grandma_? You do realize that this is the maternity ward, _not_ the geriatric ward, right?"

Jiya choked back a laugh, feeling sorry for the well-intentioned nurse. Poor Lucy was getting crankier by the minute, though Jiya supposed that was to be expected. Lack of sleep alone could make a person grouchy, never mind the steadily increasing pain her friend was experiencing. As much as Jiya loved kids, and hoped to someday have some of her own, she really didn't envy Lucy right now.

"I don't CARE! Just GiVE. ME. THE. FREAKING. EPIDURAL already!"

Jiya grimaced as the sounds of Lucy's mounting distress echoed out into the hospital hallway, proving her point. Girlfriend had a surprisingly strong set of lungs on her for someone who was normally so soft-spoken, as the whole third floor could now attest to. Leaning against the wall outside of Lucy's room, she tapped out another text message to Rufus.

 _Room 316. WTF is taking so long? Lucy's starting to lose it._

Truth be told, Lucy had been 'starting to lose it' long before they got to the hospital, not that Jiya blamed her. This whole pregnancy had been extremely hard on Lucy, to say the least. Plus, between what she'd confided in Jiya earlier, and Wyatt's somewhat puzzling _(and altogether reckless)_ disappearing act of the night before, it seemed that Lucy and Wyatt's marriage was also on shaky ground. And now they were having a baby, too? Jiya seriously doubted that the strain of caring for a newborn would do much to help their situation. But maybe _she_ could.

Though tempted to blast Wyatt with a few home truths via text, she knew that she needed to look the man directly in the eyes when she said what needed said. It was the only way that she could be sure that he heard her — _really_ heard her. Considering her words carefully so as not to scare him off, she sent Wyatt a brief text.

 _Tell Rufus to park in the back lot. I'll meet you there. We need to talk._

The door to Lucy's room swung open behind Jiya just as she clicked the send button on her message to Wyatt. "You can come in now," the nurse stated calmly.

"Everything OK?" Jiya studied the woman's face for any signs of trouble, feeling very relieved to find none.

"Yep. Mama and baby are both doing great. But as I'm sure you've noticed, she's really starting to struggle."

"Mercury enemas and rectal blisters are going to be the LEAST of his worries when I get my hands on his ASS," Lucy hollered at the top of her lungs, pain evident in every syllable.

Jiya cringed at Lucy's choice of words, concerned that this could escalate into a matter of national security if the doctors didn't give her friend the drugs she'd requested ASAP. "You _sure_ she's OK?" Jiya asked again.

"Oh yeah. Transition labor's tough, but it's also fairly quick. I've got to say, though, that's one of the more _creative_ curses I've ever heard." The nurse chuckled, looking askance towards Lucy's room.

"Yeah, Lucy's um…a historian and an anthropologist, so she's got a pretty good knowledge of ways to torture or…err…kill a guy. _Not_ that she would. I mean, _obviously_ she's pissed at her husband right now, but she would never, _ever_ …."

"Next time Flynn wants to SHOOT him, I'll load the fucking gun MYSELF!" Lucy really wasn't lending much credibility to Jiya's argument on her behalf.

"Don't worry." The nurse laughed, patting Jiya on the arm reassuringly. "We don't take that kind of talk seriously when they're in labor. She's not the first woman to threaten her partner with bodily harm, and certainly won't be the last. Any word, though, on how soon Mr. Logan will be here? Wouldn't want him to miss the birth, and really, she could use his help right now. She says she wants an epidural, and we usually try to do what the mother wants. But honestly, it would take more time to get the anesthesiologist up here than I think she has left to go. She needs someone she trusts to rub her back, get her up and walking — you know, just keep her going."

"Any minute, hopefully. He, um, got called out of town for work, but he's on his way back." If Wyatt didn't show his face soon, Lucy wouldn't be the only one helping Flynn to load the gun.

"Good, glad to hear it. She really shouldn't be alone right now. I'll be back in a bit to check on her." With a parting smile, the nurse bustled off.

Jiya watched the sweet-natured woman go, and wondered how she possibly stayed sane in this job. Then again, who was Jiya to talk? Time travel, battling terrorists throughout all of American history…yeah, her team didn't exactly have the sanest jobs either.

She ducked into Lucy's room. Unsettled at the sight of her friend hooked up to so many monitors, and obviously in extreme pain, Jiya felt guilty about what she was about to say. But in the end, it was for Lucy's benefit, wasn't it? "I'll be back in a few minutes, OK, sweetie? Just going to meet Wyatt downstairs, to make sure he finds the right room."

"Yeah, go," Lucy replied testily, clenching her teeth as another contraction set in. "Wouldn't want the idiot frightening some other half-naked woman by barreling into her room. Though it would probably scare _him_ more than it scared her." She whimpered, trying but failing to breathe her way through this one. As much as she hated the idea of Jiya leaving her side, she needed Wyatt, now more than ever.

Jiya chuckled internally, knowing that Lucy had the right of it. For all his bravado, Wyatt Logan seemed a bit terrified of women in general, let alone half-naked ones who _weren't_ his wife. She couldn't count the number of times that she'd seen the undeniably handsome man panic in the face of some scantily-dressed barfly's attempt to pick him up. Of course, the fact that Lucy was usually at his side when it happened could have something to do with that. Their marriage might not be as solid as Jiya had originally thought, but she'd been one hundred percent honest when she'd told Lucy earlier that Wyatt would never purposely do anything to hurt her. Which made the man's supposed recent behavior towards Lucy all the more baffling. On that thought, Jiya bid her friend a hasty goodbye, and headed for the elevator, determined to intercept Wyatt, and set him straight on a few things.

In spite of the seriousness of the situation, Jiya couldn't resist sending off one last joking message to Rufus _(or so she thought)_ as she waited for the elevator.

 _Transition labor. Things are getting ugly. And by ugly, I mean Wyatt's chances of_ _ **ever**_ _getting laid again._

* * *

Rufus parked the car in the first spot that he could find in the lot that Jiya had specified. He scanned the area, relieved _(for Wyatt's sake)_ to see that his girlfriend wasn't there yet. Though Wyatt had been silent throughout most of the drive to the hospital, that was no longer the case. Dude was losing it big-time, and needed a moment or two _(at least)_ to pull himself together.

In all the time that he'd known him _(just a few months really, though it sure felt like a lifetime)_ , Rufus had never seen Wyatt Logan cry. Sure, he'd noticed a telltale shine in the man's eyes a time or two, particularly when the subject of Jessica's death came up in conversation. But full-on tears? Loud, keening sobs? Not once. Consequently, Rufus had no idea what to make of it now, or how to help. And really, it wasn't the fact that Wyatt _was_ crying, so much as the reason _why_ that baffled Rufus.

There was no debating that Wyatt had had one of the shittiest days ever. From unintentionally killing an innocent man back in 1983, to learning that the wife who he'd just risked everything to save wasn't his wife anymore, there were any number of reasons for Wyatt to cry. Heck, just _witnessing_ it all had made Rufus feel like sobbing. Yet other than a few shaky moments following the discovery that, in this timeline, Wyatt was now married to _(and expecting a due-any-minute child with)_ Lucy, the man had held up remarkably well. Oddly enough, the thing that seemed to break Wyatt — the thing that Rufus couldn't quite wrap his mind around — was the text message that Wyatt had accidentally just received from Jiya.

"You OK," Rufus asked, feeling like an idiot for even voicing the question. Clearly Wyatt _wasn't_ okay, even if Rufus didn't understand the why of it.

Was he OK? Though Wyatt would have liked to reassure his anxious friend, he didn't see any point in lying. Truth be told, he didn't think he'd ever been _less_ okay, and that was saying a _lot_ considering the miserable life he'd lived thus far. "H-how did this happen, Rufus," he wailed.

"I…I don't know. There's still a lot we don't understand about time travel. And like I said, maybe the universe…."

"The universe _what_?" Wyatt interrupted Rufus heatedly. "Hates my freaking guts? Because it's sure starting to feel that way." Though he'd never put any stock in things like fate, destiny, or even the existence of a higher power, and had openly scoffed at Lucy for her belief in said things, Wyatt was seriously beginning to rethink his position. How else could he explain any of this? His own wishes, hopes, and dreams — his plans and efforts — sure as hell didn't seem to count for much these days, if they ever had.

Was the man seriously _that_ invested in his sex life, Rufus wondered. "Dude, I'm sure Jiya didn't mean it. I'm sure once this is all over, and Lucy's all healed up, she'll be more than happy to, you know, jump your bones."

" _Geez_ , Rufus. Could you _not_ go there?" Wyatt laughed in spite of himself. Trust Rufus to break things down to the basest level possible, and miss the point entirely.

"What? We all know that Lucy's got a thing for you. Especially in this timeline, apparently. I mean, you _do_ know how babies are made, right?" It occurred to Rufus belatedly that perhaps they should have spent the drive researching childbirth, and preparing Wyatt for what was to come. Too late now. The man would just have to improvise, and hope that Lucy didn't notice. As if there was any real hope of _that_ happening – Lucy was one of the most observant people that Rufus had ever met. So yeah, Wyatt was definitely up shit creek without a paddle, poor guy.

"It's not _that_ , alright? It's just…first I fail Jess _again_ , and now _this_? I _missed_ it, Rufus – every freaking part of it." Wyatt shook his head, and wiped his eyes on one sleeve of his flannel shirt. He really did need to pull himself together, if he didn't want to spook Lucy. Goodness knew the poor woman had enough on her plate right now without adding his emotional collapse to the mix.

"Every part of _what_?" Rufus had never felt more confused. What, exactly, was Wyatt getting at?

"Lucy," Wyatt replied tersely, his tone implying that that should have been obvious. "Taking her on dates. Popping the question. Getting married. Deciding to make a baby together. Getting to hold her hair back while she was throwing up."

"Man, you have some _weird_ fantasies." Rufus shook his head in disbelief at the strange turn that Wyatt had taken with that last bit.

"God, that is _so_ _not_ what I meant, Rufus. Lucy is about to have my kid – _our_ kid – and I…I didn't get to be part of _any_ of it. Hell, I didn't even get to…you know." Wyatt tried hard not to think — let alone feel resentful — about that last part. But he couldn't help it. It didn't feel right in any way that he should have fathered a child with Lucy without at least getting to enjoy the process. How many times had he _(secretly, and to his great shame)_ imagined what it would be like to hold her – to be pressed against her, skin to skin –their bodies straining desperately against each other, her breathy sighs echoing tantalizingly in his ear, as he propelled them both over the edge into oblivion? Yes, he most definitely knew, "how babies were made," to quote Rufus, but apparently the usual rules didn't apply to _this_ baby.

"You and Lucy never…? _Really_?" Rufus was downright shocked to hear that. "Jiya and I thought for sure that something happened between you two in Arkansas. You know – when you were with Bonnie and Clyde?" And they had. After the team had returned from that particular mission, there had been a rather obvious, near-palpable shift in the dynamic between Wyatt and Lucy.

Whereas the pair had certainly been _friends_ before then, there had also always been a high level of tension — of _antagonism_ — between them. After Arkansas, however, the strain seemed to have melted away, to have been replaced by a certain... _softness_. Wyatt and Lucy flirted, and they touched – often reaching for each other without even seeming to realize it. They shared long, lingering looks, and fervent, seemingly _intimate_ hugs – both of them clinging to the other, and closing their eyes throughout. And Rufus and Jiya frequently caught Wyatt staring after Lucy when she wasn't looking, a look in his eyes that couldn't be mistaken for anything other than longing. Of course, Lucy was no less guilty of doing the same.

"Something _did_ happen," Wyatt confirmed, no longer willing to deny the power of that improvised yet life-altering kiss, or how torturous it had felt to lay beside Lucy in that incredibly narrow bed afterwards — how difficult it had been to concentrate on completing the mission, when all that he'd really wanted to do was pull Lucy to him, and explore every single one of those 'possibilities' that she'd so tentatively spoken of _(their criminal audience be damned)_. "But not…not that. Trust me, a big part of me wanted it to. But…."

"The timing wasn't right? You were still hung up on Jessica?" Rufus couldn't help but wonder what that 'something' Wyatt referred to was, but really, it wasn't any of his business, was it?

"Kind of," Wyatt admitted reluctantly. "At least that's what I kept telling myself. And if all of this weren't happening now, I probably still would be." But Jessica was long gone now, wasn't she – despite his best efforts to change that? However much it hurt to have lost her – to have _failed_ her _(twice)_ in the worst possible way – the fact was that she wasn't ever coming back. And truth be told, he'd known that for quite some time now. "But I just...I can't keep lying about it, Rufus – to myself, or anyone else. I...I have feelings for Lucy, and have for a long time. And I don't think I've really even been _grieving_ Jessica the past few months so much as just...I don't know, using her death as a shield, I guess, to _hide_ those feelings."

"So you're saying that you're _not_ still hung up on Jessica? Because I mean we _did_ just steal the freaking Lifeboat last night to try to get her back." Rufus could not _believe_ what he was hearing! If Wyatt were _truly_ over Jessica – if Lucy was the woman that he _actually_ wanted to be with – then why the hell had he dragged Rufus into last night's mess in the first place? Once again, Rufus questioned his own sanity for going along with Wyatt's inarguably insane plan.

"Oh my god, _that's_ where you went last night? I thought Lucy was just being paranoid again, but you _really_ did it — you tried to get Jessica back?"

Both men looked up to see Jiya, eyes ablaze with a potent mixture of disbelief and fury, standing at the rolled-down window behind Wyatt.

"Shit, sorry man," Rufus muttered to Wyatt, before pasting a fake smile on his face. "Hey, Jiya. We were, uh, just coming to look for you. How's Lucy doing?"

Wyatt was too stunned, and too guilt-ridden by his actions of the previous night, to speak. Despite the shift in the timeline, Lucy had _still_ known? Wyatt couldn't imagine how much that must have hurt her. Here she was, about to give birth to their child, and he had run out on her to chase after Jessica? God, he was a douchebag in every timeline, wasn't he?

"Guess she was right about all of it, then. You really _don't_ love Lucy, do you Wyatt?" Jiya crossed her arms over her chest, and shook her head incredulously at the man of whom she'd expected so much better. Recognizing that there was absolutely nothing that she could say to force Wyatt to feel what he didn't already, and too disappointed in the recent actions of both men _(Rufus was far from innocent in this)_ to speak anyway, she turned on her heel and strode purposefully towards the hospital. Lucy needed somebody to help her through the next few hours _(at the very least)_ , and if Wyatt couldn't or wouldn't do it, then that left only Jiya to fill the gap.

"Jiya, wait!" Rufus sprang from the car, and hollered after her. "It's not what you think!" When she didn't so much as flinch at the sound of his voice, Rufus leaned back into the car, and pleaded with Wyatt. "Come on, buddy. Time to suck it up. I'll try to catch Jiya, before she says anything to Lucy. But if you're serious about giving this a shot, then you need to get your ass up there, and show Lucy you mean business."

Wyatt stared after his compatriot, immensely grateful for the man's friendship. What had he ever done to deserve such self-sacrificing loyalty? Swiping the last of the tears hastily from his eyes, he exited the car and raced towards the hospital, determined to show Lucy exactly how much she, and this chance at a beautiful _(if undeserved)_ future with her meant to him.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Thanks again for all the awesome feedback, you guys - way to make a girl feel welcome! Thanks to gracielinn for the tips on how to reply to reviews - I sure hope I didn't miss anyone. OK, so Lucy might seem like she's gone over the deep end here, but a.) yes, stuff like this really happens; and b.) that's the point (labor=big ouch; labor+heartbreak=festering wound). BUT Wyatt and Lucy are finally meeting up - yay! Hope this hits the spot. More ASAP! :-)**

Gasping in relief as the contraction faded and the excruciating tightness in her belly finally began to ease, Lucy determinedly wiped the tears from her eyes. That was _it_ — she was _done_ — she'd had _enough_ of this childbirth crap.

What had she been thinking when she'd decided to have this baby in the first place? Whatever it was, she'd _definitely_ changed her mind. If Wyatt wanted a kid _(who was she kidding — Wyatt hadn't ever wanted a kid)_ , then he'd just have to find himself some other broodmare, or better yet, squeeze one out himself ( _she'd pay good money to see that right now)_. Because she didn't want to do this anymore, _couldn't_ do this anymore. Nope. She was going home, and her worthless husband could just go rot alongside his precious Jessica for all she cared.

Holding on to the IV pole next to her bed for support, Lucy pulled herself up to standing, and waited for the wave of dizziness to pass. She was miles beyond exhausted, and hadn't eaten anything since lunch yesterday. Doubtless her blood sugar was in the negative numbers by now. "Forced starvation 'just in case'," Lucy scoffed. One of the many joys of institutionalized childbirth that she no longer wanted any part of. As soon as she got home, she was going to eat her weight in Pad Thai and spring rolls, heartburn be damned. But first she had to get out of this freaking place.

Lucy stripped the monitors from her belly, and tossed them over her shoulder. She scanned the room for the clothes she'd been wearing before that condescending witch of a nurse had insisted she don this joke of a gown, thankful to spot them within easy reach on the chair next to her bed.

"This will be far more comfortable than your jeans, dear, trust me," Lucy mimicked indignantly. Yeah right — the damn thing was scratchy as hell, and didn't even cover her ass. In what universe did that qualify as 'comfortable'? And here she'd thought corsets and petticoats were bad. She'd more than gladly trade in this stupid rag for one of those 19th century torture devices about now. At least then all of her parts would be covered, not hanging in the wind for any jackass who happened by to see.

Desperate now to get the pointless garment off of her, Lucy yanked at the single tie at the back of her neck, and jerked her arms free of the sleeves. Well, one sleeve anyway — the other caught on the IV line still firmly embedded in the crook of her arm. "What the…." She hissed at the sharp, unexpected stinging in her arm as she flailed against the impeding cord.

It was the _final_ , final straw. Lucy was seriously _done_ with all this shit. Gritting her teeth, she wrenched the needle and attached line from her arm, and cast them aside, along with the offending gown.

She started to reach for her own clothing but froze as another contraction set in. Gripping the IV stand to keep from falling over, she prepared herself to breathe through the pain. Surprisingly though, there wasn't much this time. In fact, she hardly felt anything beyond a little pressure in her nether regions. Well good then, good. Her body must have finally gotten the memo that Baby Logan wasn't happening after all.

* * *

Wyatt lingered outside Lucy's hospital room, longing to enter, but absolutely terrified of doing so.

The magnitude of what he was about to do was finally sinking in. When he stepped through that door, his whole identity — his whole _reality_ — would change. He would no longer be the perpetually grieving widower, the certified loner. No, he'd be a husband again _(Lucy's husband)_ and, soon, a father as well. He'd have two people _(a family)_ who depended on him for everything — for sustenance and shelter, for physical and emotional support, for protection, and, above all, for love.

There was no denying anymore that Wyatt wanted all of that with Lucy, so much so that he physically _ached_ for it. Though he hadn't sought love, hadn't even felt himself worthy of it after the horrible way in which he'd failed Jessica, he had found it nonetheless. And damn it, he was so _sick_ of fighting it. At the same time, he couldn't shake the fear that if he took this step with Lucy, he would somehow screw it all up. Hadn't he already, in a way?

From the little bit that Jiya had said earlier, Wyatt had gotten the impression that his alter-ego wasn't such a great husband to Lucy. He either hadn't loved Lucy _,_ or had done things to make her _feel_ unloved. Though both scenarios seemed pretty damn impossible to Wyatt, he couldn't rightly argue it, could he? Either way, Lucy deserved so much better. While Wyatt realized that, logically, he wasn't responsible for his counterpart's supposed actions, he still _felt_ as if he were. Besides, Lucy didn't _know_ that he was from another timeline, and that he wasn't technically the man who had somehow hurt her so badly. And that meant that Wyatt would be walking into a marriage that was already somewhat – if not completely – fractured. Would he be able to fix it? Would Lucy even give him the chance to try?

"Well you certainly won't find out by standing around out here."

Wyatt startled at the sound of the nurse's voice. He'd been so lost in his thoughts that he hadn't even heard her approach. Nor had he realized that he'd been speaking out loud. "Sorry, I, uh…what did you say?"

"Your wife's in there." The woman nodded pointedly at Lucy's door. "If there's something that needs fixing, don't you think you should be in there _with_ her? Instead of just _wishing_ you were?"

"It's, uh…complicated," Wyatt frowned and shuffled from one foot to the other, uncomfortable at being given personal advice by a total stranger, however well-meaning.

"Love always is, dear. Love. _Always._ Is. Now come on. Your baby's on its way, and your wife wants you with her. She's been calling for you all morning. Well, more like calling for your severed head and a few other choice body parts on a platter, but around here, that means pretty much the same thing." The nurse opened the door to Lucy's room, gesturing Wyatt inside.

Wyatt winced, and rubbed at his brow. The situation was obviously much worse than he'd thought, if Lucy was openly talking about him that way. He stepped into the room, preparing himself for a hostile welcome, but then froze at the sight before him. He'd imagined all sorts of scenarios about what he might be walking into, but heaven help him, _never_ this one.

"Lucy…." He exhaled her name reverently, worshipfully, as if she were the madonna herself stood before him. "You're…." Naked. So very naked. And most definitely pregnant. And, oh god, so utterly _exquisite_ that it was nearly painful to look at her. Not that he could look away, even if he wanted to, which he sure as hell didn't. Because it was Lucy standing before him, all bare creamy skin and dusky-rose-tipped nipples and swollen belly — his _(please-oh-please-don't-let-me-ever-screw-this-up)_ wife — and not some religious icon that he wasn't sure he believed in anyway.

"Gee, look who _finally_ bothered to show up," Lucy sneered, fury evident in every line of her _(beautiful)_ face. "I take it time got away from you while you were off chasing Jessica? Oops! Did I say 'Jessica'? I meant _Flynn_ , of course. Because we _all_ know that Jessica's _dead_ , right, Wyatt? Long _dead_ , rotting-in-her-grave _dead_ , nothing-but-dust-by-now _dead_? Oh, that's right, _you_ DON'T seem to know that, do you, Wyatt?"

Her words were a swift, calculated punch to Wyatt's gut. Though he'd expected her anger, he hadn't expected it to be so pointed, or to hurt quite so badly. He honestly would never have thought Lucy capable of such cruelty. Yet she'd intentionally pressed on a sore spot - the sorest, no less. Not that he blamed her exactly — if 'other him' had indeed left Lucy — his very pregnant _wife_ — for the chance to get Jessica back, then he absolutely deserved her wrath. Except that Wyatt wasn't _actually_ that guy, and that made it very difficult for him to bear her ugliness towards him, especially considering that it was likely only the beginning of what was to come.

"I'm guessing, of course, that your little 'mission' last night _didn't_ go as planned," Lucy continued, every syllable nastier than the one before. "Because if it had, you wouldn't be here at all, would you? Hell, _I_ wouldn't be here at all. Didn't exactly think about _that_ before you ran off, did you Wyatt? Ah but hold on – you _did_ , didn't you? I bet you just couldn't _wait_ to erase me, could you? So sorry that didn't work out for you, _Sweethea_ rt. No, you know what? Come to think of it, you should just keep trying until you _do_ get it right. Because lord knows you're the last fucking person that I want to wake up to for the rest of _my_ life."

Wyatt chewed on his lower lip, fighting the urge to cry. _It's not really me she's mad at_. He repeated the words in his mind like a soothing mantra, though it did very little to ease the sting of her words.

Suddenly it occurred to Wyatt that maybe he should just tell Lucy about the timeline shift. She couldn't really be angry with him then, and that would make things easier, right? Then again, she might just kick him out of her life altogether because he wasn't 'her' Wyatt. It would be well within her rights to do that, but could he _live_ with it if she did? Now that he'd finally admitted to himself what it was that he wanted with Lucy _(everything_ — _for the rest of their lives)_ he really didn't think that he could. Strictly speaking, he supposed that she wasn't 'his' Lucy either. But as far as he knew, there was simply no way to reset the timelines once they'd shifted. And that meant that, for better or worse, he _was_ her Wyatt, and she _was_ his Lucy, didn't it?

"You piece of…."

Wyatt was extremely grateful for the reprieve when the same kindly nurse who had helped him a moment ago entered the room and began to fuss over Lucy.

"Mrs. Logan! What on _earth_?" The startled woman rushed to Lucy's side. "Where is your gown? And did you…you pulled your IV out? What were you _thinking_?"

"I was thinking I'm _done_ with all this bullshit, and I'm going _home_. I'm not having a baby today after all. Or EVER!" Lucy spat, casting a hate-filled glance in Wyatt's direction.

"Oh honey, it doesn't work that way," the nurse clucked sympathetically. "This baby's coming, like it or not. So let's just get you…."

"No it's NOT," Lucy argued vehemently. "Because I don't WANT it to. And anyway, my contractions stopped. Shows what you know!"

"Your contractions stopped?" The nurse's eyes grew wide, and then she chuckled. Patting Wyatt's arm as she strode past him, she gestured towards Lucy. "Why don't you help your wife get dressed and back into bed, Mr. Logan, while I fetch the doctor. Seems we've got a baby to deliver."

"What? No, no, NO! I told you, it's NOT happening!" Lucy hollered after the retreating nurse.

Wyatt couldn't help himself. He burst into laughter. This whole day had been almost ridiculously unbelievable so far, and now Lucy thought that she could get out of giving birth just on _her_ say-so alone? That was _so_ the bossy know-it-all that he'd come to know and love.

"What are you laughing at, you…you JOBBERNOWL," Lucy snarled.

"Oh Lucy, you have no idea how _hot_ it makes me when you talk smart," Wyatt teased only half-jokingly. "Come on, Babydoll — let's get you dressed, and back into bed."


	5. Chapter 5

Lucy crossed her arms defiantly and smirked at Wyatt. "It'll be a cold day in hell before you get me back into that bed. Or _any_ bed, for that matter."

Wyatt suppressed a grin at the challenge in her eyes. He might not know much yet about this new life of his, but he _did_ know Lucy. And right now she was daring him, in that passive-aggressive way of hers, to give it his best shot. He never could resist a dare. Nor could he resist the opportunity to start to show Lucy that, regardless of whatever hurt existed between them, she could count on him to take care of her. Even if she was too stubborn to openly admit that she wanted or needed him to.

"Hmm. Funny you should mention it, ma'am, because apparently…." Wyatt pulled his cellphone from his pocket, and pretended to consult the calendar there. "Yep." He nodded. "That day's _today_." He retrieved the discarded hospital gown from the floor, and turned towards her, holding it open for her to step into.

Lucy rolled her eyes and snorted at him in mock amusement, but otherwise didn't budge.

Though Wyatt couldn't blame her for not wanting to put the dratted thing back on _(it really was scratchy as hell)_ , it would help preserve her modesty to some degree during the delivery. She might be in total denial right now, but as soon as reality kicked back in, he knew that she'd want that. Besides, it probably wouldn't win him any points with Lucy if he ended up punching out the doctor or another member of the delivery team for ogling parts of her that they had no business seeing in the first place.

He pressed forward, boxing her in between the bed and the neighboring chair. At this proximity, he could feel the heat of her body, and smell the light floral notes of whatever lotion or perfume she'd applied that morning. The tantalizing combination worked at his already overly stimulated nerves, and he felt his carefully crafted control starting to slip. "Come on, Lucy," he urged, unable to keep the huskiness from his voice. "This can go one of two ways. Either you put it on yourself, or I put it on you."

"Well that's a first. Wyatt Logan trying to put clothes _on_ me," Lucy commented wryly.

Her words brought Wyatt up short, and he took an involuntary step backward. What had he been _thinking_? For all that he wanted this life with Lucy that he'd inadvertently stepped into, it wasn't rightfully _his_ , was it? He hadn't wooed her, hadn't married her. He'd never even properly kissed her, let alone taken clothes off of her.

Suddenly it didn't feel right at all being there with her in this most intimate of situations. Lucy was an amazing woman who deserved to have the _actual_ love of her life there now to share in the birth of their child, not some sorry substitute who just happened to resemble that man.

Lucy seemed to sense the shift in Wyatt's demeanor. He watched, unsure now how to act towards her, as her eyes filled with tears. "Get out," she ordered, softly at first, and then much more clearly. "Get. The hell. Out!"

Wyatt laid the gown on the bed, and scrambled towards the door, not daring to look behind him. She wasn't _his_ wife, that wasn't _his_ child, and he had no right to be there at all. He needed to leave — it was the honorable thing to do, however much it hurt.

* * *

Jiya was just about to knock on Lucy's hospital room door when it suddenly swung open, and Wyatt came barreling through. "Wyatt? What…." She broke off, noting the anguished look on the man's face, and the tears streaming down his cheeks. "Oh my god! Is Lucy OK?"

"She's, uh…." Wyatt sniffled, and scrubbed one trembling hand over his face in an ineffective attempt to stave off the crying. "She's fine. Could use your help, though. The nurse said the baby's coming pretty quick, so Lucy probably shouldn't be alone right now." Ignoring the look of shock on Jiya's face, he sped towards the elevator.

"So then where the hell are _you_ going?" Jiya chased after him, grabbing onto his arm as he stepped into the elevator. "You're her husband, Wyatt. If anybody should be with her right now, it's you."

Wyatt shook her off. "I'm _not_ her husband, though, not really. Rufus told you what we did last night, right? How we screwed up the timeline?"

"Yeah, he did," Jiya confirmed. _(And she was still angry about that, but at least it hadn't been as bad as she'd originally thought.)_ "Lucy doesn't know that, though." Nor did she need to right now, all things considered. It wasn't like they could do anything to change it anyway. "Look, Wyatt, she's been through so much lately, between Flynn, the crap with her dad being Rittenhouse, and the doctors grounding her from the missions. She deserves to have something go _right_ for a change, to have you with her right now, even if she is being a little cranky." OK, maybe 'a little' was a major understatement, given some of the things that Lucy had said earlier about Wyatt, but _still_. "It's just because she's in labor, Wyatt. You know she isn't normally this bad."

"Honestly, Jiya? I don't know _what_ this Lucy is normally like. Regardless though, she deserves to have her _real_ husband with her, and it's my fault somehow that he's not. But don't worry. I'm going to fix it. Even if I have to die trying." He pushed the 'close door' button repeatedly, and gestured for Jiya to move out of the way.

Jiya pressed her back tightly against the door, blocking it from shutting. Wyatt was going to _fix it_? How did he propose to do that, exactly? "What are you…?" Understanding finally dawned on her. "Wyatt! You _can't_ be serious. It's not safe to go back to a time where you've already been. Didn't Rufus ever tell you what happened to the last guy who tried that?"

"I'll just have to take that risk," he stubbornly insisted. "Lucy's worth it."

Jiya remembered all too vividly Martin's failed attempt to revisit his wedding day. Poor guy had just wanted to see the event, which he'd been too nervous at the time to enjoy, from an outside perspective. From the pilot's log, they knew that he'd managed to do just that. But he hadn't ever made it home again to his wife. The mangled parts, the bits and pieces that they'd had to practically scrape from the unfortunate pilot's chair, not to mention the smell…. No matter how noble Wyatt's intentions were, she could _not_ let him do this.

She started to say as much, when a scream from within Lucy's room diverted her attention. Dang it, they really didn't have time to be arguing about this now. "Wyatt…."

"Go, Jiya. Get the nurse. Help Lucy. I'm sorry, but I just…it's not right for _me_ to be the one who's in there with her. She deserves to get the love of her life back." Wyatt shoved Jiya clear of the elevator doorway, and pressed the button again to seal the mobile compartment.

"Oh my god, I'm having a baby. Wyatt! Wyatt, come back — the nurse was right! I _am_ having a baby today!" Lucy's panicked shrieks echoed again into the hallway.

With a parting glance at the elevator, Jiya dashed off to retrieve the nurse. Surely Rufus would dissuade Wyatt from his insane plan. After all, it wasn't like Wyatt could pilot the Lifeboat himself. Jiya just hoped that Lucy would forgive him for missing the birth of their child. Speaking of which, what was all that Lucy was going on about just now? Of _course_ she was having a baby today — duh! Had she somehow thought otherwise?

* * *

As soon as the elevator reached the ground floor, Wyatt rushed out into the lobby, barely avoiding colliding with Rufus.

"Hey, watch it!" Rufus juggled the tray of to-go cups that he was holding precariously. "Jiya's pissed enough at me as it is, thanks to you. If she doesn't get her coffee, well, you can pretty much plan on never sleeping again, buddy, because I _will_ come back and haunt your ass after she cuts me into a million unidentifiable pieces."

"Rufus! Just the man I needed to see." Gripping his friend by the shoulder, Wyatt urged him towards the hospital exit. "Come on — we have to get back to Mason Industries."

"Whoa — what do you mean 'get back'?" Rufus frowned at him in confusion. "We just got here. And did you forget that your wife's about to give birth? If Flynn jumped, let the back-up team handle it. Oh yeah, Jiya says we've got one of those now. About damn time." Rufus was literally sick and tired of being on-call 24-7. Besides, dating was hard enough without time travel added to the mix.

"Lucy's _not_ my wife, Rufus," Wyatt argued. "But yeah, the baby's coming. That's why we have to go now. We have to fix whatever we messed up so she can get her husband back."

"Uh, we talked about this already, buddy — ad nauseum. _You_ are her husband now, remember? And I'm sorry, but there really isn't anything we can do to 'fix' that, since we don't know what we messed up in the first place. Besides, we'd have to go back to 1983 again, which we absolutely _cannot_ do, since we've been there already. Didn't I ever tell you what happened to the last guy who tried that? Poor Martin…." Rufus launched into a sad recounting of what had happened to the hapless pilot.

"Focus, Rufus! You told me already, alright." Wyatt began to pace back and forth, reminding Rufus of a tiger that he'd once seen in a too-small enclosure at the zoo. If the man had a tail, Rufus felt certain that it would be twitching the same way that that one's had, too. "I know it's dangerous, but I…I can't _not_ try. Lucy deserves to have the person she's _actually_ meant to be with."

Rufus sighed. He really had thought that they were past all this already. What happened to wanting to hold Lucy's hair back while she threw up, and all that other love stuff that Wyatt had been spouting in the car earlier? "Did it ever occur to you that maybe _you're_ the one she's meant to be with?"

"No. Yes." Wyatt shook his head as if to clear away the confusion of his own words. "Look, maybe I _am_ meant to be with Lucy. But not _this_ Lucy. This Lucy already has someone she loves — someone she has a history with, even if it's not totally perfect. It wouldn't be right for me to just step in now that all the hard work has been done. I…I haven't earned this life, Rufus. He did."

"Well from what Jiya said, it doesn't sound like 'other you' earned it exactly either. I mean, the guy never really got over losing Jessica, even after he and Lucy got together." That was putting it mildly, but Rufus didn't think that Wyatt needed to know the details. It would just be one more thing for his friend to feel inordinately guilty about, and Wyatt certainly didn't need that, especially since, technically, _he_ hadn't done it.

"So maybe 'other me' has some things to work through still. But trust me, he _is_ going to get there. What he and Jessica had, it was really special. Just not as special as what he has now with Lucy, and he already knows that. Look, I can prove it." Wyatt pulled his cellphone from his pocket, and opened his phone contacts, scrolling to the name that he now knew had been _(and always would be)_ reserved for Lucy alone.

He turned the phone to show Rufus the indisputable evidence. "See — 'Love of My Life'. That's _Lucy's_ number, Rufus, _not_ Jessica's. And I know myself well enough — know _him_ well enough — to promise you that it's not just some casual term of endearment. He used it because he _meant_ it with every fiber of his being, or he wouldn't have used it at all. That guy — the guy who already knows that Lucy is the love of his life, and had the courage to _act_ on it? The one who chose to build a life and a marriage and have a _child_ with her? He deserves to get _her_ back just as much as she deserves to get _him_ back."

"I hear what you're saying, man, I do, but…." How could Rufus make Wyatt understand the tremendous danger of what he was proposing? "Even if we _could_ go back to 1983 again, the chances are seriously slim — we're talking like one in about a hundred trillion here — that we could change it back to the way it was before. Those aren't exactly betting odds, Wyatt. And what if we just make it worse? What if Lucy ends up right back at square one with this guy, or…or erased completely? What if…."

"Again, that's a chance I have to take, Rufus," Wyatt pleaded with his friend to understand. "I _have_ to. Not just for them. For me, too."

"Wyatt, I know that you're probably totally freaked out right now about being a husband and a dad…." Rufus sure would be, anyway, if their roles were reversed. Thank goodness that _wasn't_ the case. So far, aside from a few slightly altered memories, he'd been lucky enough to come home from each mission to his life being exactly as he'd left it.

"No. That's not it at all," Wyatt insisted irritably.

Rufus rolled his eyes, much to Wyatt's further annoyance.

"Would you just…hear me out on this, please?" Wyatt snapped. "Look, you're the one who said that maybe the universe did all this to help me get my head out of my ass and see what was right in front of me, right? But if that's true, then wouldn't the universe also want me to _work_ for it, to _fight_ for it? I have to believe that it would, Rufus, because Lucy — _my_ Lucy — doesn't deserve anything less. And seriously, you can't tell me you wouldn't feel the exact same if this was happening to you and Jiya."

"Yeah." Rufus had to admit that Wyatt was right. But if he went along with what Wyatt wanted to do, he could end up losing Jiya altogether — assuming, of course, that he and Wyatt even survived the trip. As much as Rufus wanted to help his friend _(again),_ the risks were simply too great. Then again, he thought, maybe there was another way.

He and Mason had been working for some time on an auto-pilot program for the Lifeboat, to ensure that Lucy and Wyatt never got stranded if something were to happen to Rufus on one of their missions. Some of the other engineers had looked over the calculations just last week, and everyone seemed fairly confident that the program would work. Since Wyatt was determined to do this anyway, maybe his little trip could serve as the first test-flight. Rufus figured that he could rig the system so that the Lifeboat automatically returned to the present right after landing in 1983. After all, if Wyatt's theories about the universe's intentions were correct, the man wouldn't need to _do_ anything in 1983 to reset the timeline — he'd just need to go and come back, wouldn't he? Oh, and hope that his body was still in one _(living, breathing)_ piece when he returned.

"So you'll help me, then?" Wyatt asked anxiously, searching Rufus' eyes for confirmation.

"I can't go, man," Rufus replied, feeling a little guilty about that, but not enough to risk his and Jiya's happiness together. "But I think there's a way that _you_ can."

"Really? How?" Wyatt beamed with eager excitement. "What do we need to do?"

"Get back to Mason Industries, like you said." Rufus eyed the coffee that Jiya most certainly wouldn't be getting anytime soon. Yeah, she was definitely going to kill him. Maybe he should just take his chances with Wyatt's latest insane plan after all.


	6. Chapter 6

Jiya followed the nurse reluctantly into Lucy's room as the laboring woman continued to holler for her husband. Dang Wyatt Logan for putting Jiya in this position! How the heck was she supposed to explain to Lucy that her idiot husband wasn't coming back now _(or_ — _quite possibly_ — _ever, if Rufus didn't manage to talk some sense into him)_?

Rufus! She tapped out a series of texts to her boyfriend, willing him to intervene.

 _Wyatt's gone off the deep end. Do NOT listen to a WORD he says! Knock him out, tie him up, whatever — just get his sorry behind back up here ASAP. Please!_

 _P.S. Wyatt's not the only one who won't be getting any ever again if you don't._

 _P.P.S. Coffee?_

Jiya tucked her phone into her pocket, and looked over to where Lucy was now struggling against the nurse who was, for some reason, trying to get Lucy into a gown. Again? Apparently things had gotten 'interesting' in the short time Jiya had been away. Did she even want to know what had happened? No, probably not. "Come on, Lucy," she chastised her friend. "Stop making the nurse's life more difficult, and just put the dang gown on. You don't want the doctor seeing your…everything, do you?"

Lucy elbowed the nurse in the solar plexus _(the way that Wyatt had taught her to, of course – he'd be so proud)_ to get the woman to back off. "I will, I just…I can do it MYSELF, OK? Geez. See if I leave a good Yelp review for _this_ hospital!"

Jiya rushed to the nurse's side. Lucy had managed to knock the wind right out of the poor, beleaguered woman. "Oh my gosh, are you OK?"

The nurse nodded, waving Jiya towards Lucy, as she struggled to catch her breath.

In Jiya's book, Lucy's nurse qualified for sainthood. Putting up with being assaulted by patients? That couldn't _possibly_ be part of the job description, and Jiya would make sure that Lucy knew that just as soon as all this was over. Who knew that her friend could be such a beast? No wonder Wyatt had run off as if the hounds of hell were chasing him. Then again, it was _(partly)_ Wyatt's fault Lucy was having a baby to start with, so yeah – he didn't get a pass on this either.

Lucy finished knotting the gown's single tie as she took stock of the other occupants of the room. Jiya, that dreadful nurse…where was Wyatt? Why hadn't he come back with the other two? "Jiya, where's Wyatt? Didn't he hear me? Baby's…" She screamed as another vice-like contraction squeezed her middle, and the telltale pressure in her lower body flared again. "…coming. Now. Oh god, I need to push! WYATT!"

"Not yet, Mrs. Logan," the nurse gasped in response, still fighting to recover the air in her lungs after Lucy's perfectly-placed blow. "Need to check you first — make sure you're fully dilated." She gestured for Jiya to get Lucy into the bed, while she rang the nurse's station to ask them _(again)_ to find the doctor. She kicked herself mentally for not realizing sooner, given Mrs. Logan's overly agitated state, that this baby would be such a racehorse. It was just so unusual for first pregnancies, but clearly this child was as, ah, 'unique' as its mother.

Jiya looked frantically between her shrieking friend and the nurse, and then stumbled obediently to Lucy's side. Should she wait for the contraction to pass, or just try to hoist Lucy into the bed? She honestly wasn't quite sure what was happening, or how to help. After all, it wasn't she who had attended all those birthing classes. Dang Wyatt freaking Logan again! This was _his_ job, and he…. Jiya interrupted her own thought process. Wyatt _hadn't_ actually attended the birthing classes, had he? That was 'other him'. So even if Rufus _did_ get him back here in time, the guy would be just as useless as she was in knowing what to do for Lucy. Well shoot.

"Help her into the bed as soon as the contraction passes," the nurse instructed, sensing Jiya's confusion. "In the meantime, rub her lower back firmly. It will help."

Jiya did as she was told, and slowly but surely, Lucy seemed to come back to herself. Or at least as close to herself as she'd been in the last few hours, which wasn't very close at all, truth be told. "Come on, sweetie. You heard the nice lady. Into the bed." Lucy didn't struggle this time. For once during this godforsaken day, she actually did as she was told. Thank goodness for small miracles!

"No need to bother with the blankets. I've got to check her anyway," the nurse continued to direct Jiya.

Jiya nodded and, again, followed the woman's instructions, grateful that _someone_ here, at least, seemed to know what to do.

Leaning back against the pillows, and feeling relatively calm for the first time in hours, Lucy breathed deeply, and tried to ignore the nurse poking around now in places Lucy most definitely didn't want her _(or anyone, for that matter)_ to be. Not that it mattered now. She was pretty sure that whatever was left of her dignity had fallen out hours ago, alongside her mucus plug.

"Yep. You're good to go, honey," the nurse declared, reaching up to tug the blankets over Lucy's middle. "Rest up now, get your energy back, because next contraction, I'm going to put you to work pushing that baby out. You remember from your classes what to do?"

Lucy nodded faintly, and recited the routine her birthing instructor had drilled into her. "Yeah. Yes. Chin to my chest, push from my bottom for all I'm worth when you tell me to, stop when you tell me to."

"That's exactly right, dear. You obviously paid attention in class. You'd be surprised how many mamas come in here without the first clue about what to do for their own bodies."

"Teacher," Lucy pointed at herself. "Can't very well expect my students to pay attention in class if I don't, can I?"

The nurse tittered softly in agreement, and Lucy wondered why she hadn't noticed before how incredibly sweet the woman was. She'd have to ask Wyatt to send the kindly, obviously capable nurse a fruit basket or something after the baby was born. Wyatt…. "Where's Wyatt?" She turned her head, directing the question anxiously at Jiya.

Jiya looked up from reading Rufus' reply to her earlier texts. "He'll, uh, be right back. Just had to make a little, uh, pit stop in the bathroom."

Lucy smiled softly at her friend, then suddenly burst into tears.

"What the…Lucy, he'll _be_ here, I promise!" Jiya studied Lucy in wide-eyed alarm. Not sure what else to do, she lovingly stroked her friend's sweat-matted hair away from her face.

"It's not that. Just…th-thank you. You're such a good f-f-friend," Lucy sobbed as if her heart was breaking.

Jiya gave Lucy's hand a light squeeze, then looked questioningly to the nurse. "Is this normal?" she mouthed silently.

"Hormones building up for the job ahead. She'll feel a lot better once she starts pushing. And then she'll be holding that sweet baby, and forget all about most of the rest of this." The nurse stepped over and took Lucy's other hand in hers. "Won't you, sweetie?"

Jiya would simply have to take the nurse's word for it. For the first time all day, she actually _did_ envy Lucy. Not because of the baby, but for the blessing of being able to _forget_. Jiya didn't think that she'd forget this day for a long time to come, if ever. Good thing she and Rufus weren't ready for marriage and kids yet, though they could probably both do with a couple of good, strong drinks about now. Something much, _much_ stronger than coffee, to be sure.

* * *

Rufus read the rapid-fire incoming texts from Jiya as he waited for Wyatt to finish up in the bathroom. Seriously? She was threatening _him_ with that now, too? "Uh, Wyatt. Change of plans, dude, sorry," he called over the stall door.

"What change of plans?" Wyatt grumbled. He dodged around Rufus to get to the sink to wash his hands, wiping his wet palms afterwards on his jeans in lieu of wasting paper towels.

Rufus took a deep breath and lied through his teeth. Badly. "Well you know that, uh, uh, auto-pilot program I told you about? Seems one of the, uh, engineers found a f-fatal flaw in the code. I'm sorry, man, I'd really like to help you out, you know that. But with the…the code not being right, there's just no way to do this. Looks like you're just going to have to, uh, make it work with _this_ Lucy after all?"

Wyatt studied Rufus through narrowed eyes. "Come on, Rufus. Are you serious? I mean, if you know what's wrong with the code, then that means you also know how to fix it, right? Besides, I told you why I can't do that to Lucy. It wouldn't be fair to her. And the universe…."

"Alright," Rufus snapped, his patience _(and his sex life, quite possibly)_ at an end. "Will you just freaking _stop_ with all that crap about the universe already? I know I said it first, but it was a _joke_ , ok? A joke. Kind of." He shrugged. He'd certainly _meant_ it as a joke, but was starting now to wonder if maybe there was something to it after all. Whatever — his degrees were in physics, not metaphysics. "Regardless, it's time to man up, Wyatt, and face the facts. You've got a wife upstairs who needs you. Now let's go, before you miss out on something you'll regret for the rest of your life."

"But she's not technically _my_ wife, Rufus. She's not _my_ Lucy. She's…."

"The only _Lucy_ you've got! The only Lucy you're ever _going_ to get, Wyatt, because YOU decided you had to try to get Jessica back, even though you already had a very-much-alive woman who loved you, and who – apparently – _you_ loved, too. So how about you try being _thankful_ for the fact that we didn't freaking erase Lucy completely, and that you still get a shot with her at all, however freaking imperfect you think it is? But great news, buddy — all that love-marriage-baby-life stuff you think you didn't earn? Well, by the sounds of it, you're _definitely_ going to be working and fighting your ass off for it. Because Lucy's about this close to kicking your sorry butt to the curb."

"But…."

Rufus didn't like to think of himself as the violent type, regardless of the things that he'd been forced to do to save history _(and his teammates)_ from that psycho Flynn. But Wyatt needed a swift reality check, so Rufus gave it to him, in the form of a fist to the face.

Who would've ever thought that the big, tough, Delta Force soldier would go down so fast and hard? And how the hell was Rufus going to explain to Lucy that her idiot husband couldn't attend the birth of their child because he was passed out cold on the bathroom floor? He was so screwed if he didn't find a way to get his friend upstairs tout suite. Or maybe not _(not ever again, dang it)_. If only he had a dolly, or a wheelbarrow, or a….

Rufus left Wyatt laying right where he was, and sprinted to the nearest nurse's station. "Um, excuse me? Is there a wheelchair I could borrow for a few minutes?"

"A wheelchair?" The attending nurse eyed Rufus with concern. "Is somebody hurt?"

"Yeah, my friend. He's kind of, uh, passed out on the bathroom floor." Rufus gestured for the nurse to follow him, and ran back down the hall.

The nurse hastily grabbed a wheelchair and trailed Rufus right into the men's room. "Oh my gosh," she exclaimed at the sight of the _(freaking-gorgeous-wow-look-at-those-biceps)_ man who was, indeed, lying unconscious on the bathroom floor. "What happened? Did he just faint?"

"Yeah. No. Um, I mean, I might have, uh, accidentally-on-purpose knocked him out," Rufus explained sheepishly.

The nurse backed up a few steps, regarding Rufus warily.

Dang it, he probably shouldn't have said that, should he? He really, really hoped that the woman wasn't about to call security, because…. "Uh, sorry. Didn't mean to freak you out like that. He really _is_ my friend, and I didn't actually _mean_ to knock him out. But he wouldn't shut up and listen, and…. Look, could you maybe just help me get him upstairs to Maternity? Because his wife's about to pop, and I'm pretty sure dude won't be the only one with a serious headache come morning if I don't get him up there ASAP."

"Ah." The nurse's face and stance relaxed considerably. "I see. So Daddy-to-be is having some last minute jitters, is he?" _(And didn't that just figure? Why were the good-looking ones always already taken?)_

"No, not at all. Unless you count trying to jump in a time machine to go back and undo it all because he didn't do enough to earn his wife's love yet 'jitters'. In which case, yeah, he's got a few."

Though the nurse wondered briefly if Rufus, too, had taken a knock or two to the head, she didn't bother to ask. After all, she'd certainly heard stranger things in this job. "You get his left side, and I'll take the right," she directed, moving into position to lift the still man into the wheelchair. "And be careful with his head. We probably shouldn't be moving him at all, you know. But I guess he's in the right place if it turns out that he has a concussion."

Together they hoisted Wyatt into the chair, tucking his head safely against his chest.

"Nah, he'll be fine. He's taken harder blows than that one without a concussion. He's about as hardheaded as it comes. Plus, you know, he's Delta Force and all that."

Rufus nodded his thanks to the nurse, and wheeled Wyatt back to the elevator. Seeing Wyatt begin to stir in the chair, he thanked his lucky stars _(the universe?)_ that maybe he wouldn't have to grovel at Jiya's bedside tonight after all.

"Dang, these trips just get worse every time," Wyatt mumbled. "We should really start stocking the Lifeboat with coffee if they're gonna knock me out like that."

Coffee? Rufus buried his face in his hands. Well there went _his_ plans for the evening. Could this day _possibly_ get any worse?


	7. Chapter 7

Why did he have to go and open his big mouth? Rufus backed as far away from Wyatt as possible as his friend slumped forward in the wheelchair and proceeded to vomit all over the elevator floor. Pinching his nose against the acrid smell, he eyed Wyatt sympathetically. "Surprised you didn't do that sooner, considering how this day's been going for you."

Still struggling to catch his breath, Wyatt lifted his head and glowered at Rufus. Right — as if Rufus hadn't played a huge part in _that_. Who knew that nerdy, nonviolent Rufus could pack such a wallop of a punch? If Wyatt weren't so embarrassed by the fact that his own idiotic behavior had necessitated it, he'd probably be pretty impressed.

Who was he kidding? He was still impressed, though not so much by Rufus' strength as his strength of _character_. Rufus had seen right through Wyatt's freak-out, and had done what he had to do to put a stop to it. Wyatt knew that he owed his friend big-time for not letting him screw up the best thing to ever happen to him _(or at least not completely anyway, he hoped)_.

"Hey, look on the bright side," Rufus quipped. "At least you didn't get any on yourself." Oops — again with the big mouth. Rufus buried his face in his hands as Wyatt attempted to stand from the chair, and promptly slipped in his own rejected stomach contents.

Not foolish enough to try standing again, Wyatt crawled towards the elevator door. "Shut up and get me out of this tin can, Rufus," he grumbled. As if on command, the elevator dinged and the door slid open. Wyatt scuttled out onto the carpeted floor. "Jesus, I reek." He gagged again at the smell of himself, as if to emphasize the point.

Carefully navigating his way out of the elevator, Rufus studied his friend. Between the walnut-sized knot on the back of his head, the bruising that was starting to form around his eye, and the nasty mess he'd just made of his clothes, Wyatt was in pretty sad shape. And that wasn't even counting the invisible aches and pains, both physical and emotional, that he was sure the poor guy was suffering at the moment.

Not for the first time today, Rufus wondered what they could possibly have done back in 1983 to bring all of this about. Was it the fact that they'd erased Wes Gilliam from history, or did it have something to do with the guy that Wyatt had accidentally killed? Perhaps it was simply that they'd interacted with someone in the past with whom they should never have had contact? Or was it just a random twist of time and fate? Whatever it was, Rufus certainly wouldn't want to trade places with Wyatt right now - not even for all of the Chocodiles in the world.

Regardless of the cause, and despite the fact that Jiya was still hounding him to get Wyatt back to Lucy ASAP _(somebody take the woman's phone away already!)_ , there was no way that Rufus could let his pal face Lucy in the sorry shape that he was in. Hopefully somebody at the nurses' station could help. After all, Rufus figured, it couldn't be the first time that someone had tossed their cookies in the maternity ward. Come to think of it, he should probably let the hospital staff know about the mess in the elevator, too, before it led to an epidemic of that.

"Yeah you, uh, just stay right there, OK?" Rufus urged his bedraggled teammate. "I'll see if I can scrounge up something for you to change into before you see Lucy. Don't need you making her cry again, and there's no way she'd be able to stop herself if she got a whiff of you." With an over-exaggerated crinkle of his nose, he headed off in search of Wyatt's salvation.

Wyatt snorted in wry amusement, knowing that his friend was right on both counts. Especially the part about not needing to make Lucy cry again. He'd never intended to do that in the first place, but as usual he'd panicked as soon as things had gotten even slightly intimate between them.

'As usual' - that thought made Wyatt pause. Why was he still behaving with the same reticence towards Lucy? Why was he still trying - no, _needing -_ to keep things 'casual' between them, when there was no longer any reason to do so?

In the past, maintaining a certain distance between himself and Lucy had made perfect sense. After all, he _had_ still been grieving Jessica then, and getting involved with Lucy at that time _(despite the immense attraction that he'd felt for her from the start)_ wouldn't have been fair to either woman. But why was he _still_ doing it, when he'd finally managed to lay Jessica's ghost to rest, when he'd finally admitted to himself that he _wanted_ Lucy - lock, stock, and smoking barrel?

Was it just a long-ingrained habit? Probably, in part. Was he afraid of losing her? How could he not be, after what had happened to Jessica? But neither of those things seemed to add up to the almost instinctive reaction he had to run - far and fast - anytime he and Lucy came within touching distance of each other. No, there had to be something deeper at work, even if he couldn't quite figure out right now what that was.

Even so, he _did_ want this life with her - there was no doubt about that in his mind or his heart, his earlier freak-out not withstanding. And he knew he that needed to start to show her that, by being there for the birth of her _(their, he mentally corrected himself)_ child. Assuming, of course, that Lucy even let him back in that room after the way that he'd behaved earlier _(please, oh please, let her be willing to give him another chance!)_. But how was he going to manage that, when he hadn't even been able to handle helping her put on that damn hospital gown?

Pushing himself to stand, Wyatt winced at the resulting jolt of pain at the back of his head. Though grateful to Rufus for _literally_ knocking some sense into him, he almost wished that the guy had given him a concussion. Then at least he'd have a good excuse for his sorry behavior, for not knowing…. _Shit._ Even if Lucy _did_ let him back in that room, he didn't have the first clue about what to expect, or what he was supposed to do to _help_ her, did he?

He racked his brain for anything that he might have read or seen on the subject of childbirth, drawing a total blank. If only he'd taken that optional emergency childbirth training course that the Army had offered last spring….

"Hey, you're in luck. One of the nurses let me have a set of scrubs. He says there's a men's room up the hall where you can fix yourself up." Rufus held the tidy pile of fresh clothing out to Wyatt, but paused when he saw the panic-stricken look on the man's face. Dang it, Wyatt wasn't headed down the rabbit hole _again_ , was he? Rufus was already worn to the bone from trying to help Wyatt and Lucy work things out. Plus, he was pretty sure that he'd broken his pinky finger taking Wyatt down the first time — he _really_ didn't want to have to do it again. "You OK, buddy? Not having second thoughts again, are you? Because Lucy really…."

"Rufus, what do you know about delivering babies?" Wyatt asked urgently. Rufus was smart, right — college-educated? He had to at least know more about this subject than Wyatt did, right?

"Miss Scarlet, I don't know nothin' 'bout birthin' no babies!" Rufus chirped, hoping to lighten whatever potentially damaging mindset Wyatt was currently in.

Wyatt stared at him blankly.

"Oh come on — Prissy from 'Gone with the Wind'? Don't tell me you've never seen 'Gone with the Wind'! It's only like _the_ quintessential Civil War romance."

"Seriously, Rufus?" Wyatt frowned. " _Now_ with the movie references? I don't have _any_ freaking idea what I'm supposed to do to help Lucy!"

"Oh that's easy," Rufus reassured him. "You just catch the baby when it comes out."

"Catch the baby?" Wyatt puzzled over that. If it were really that easy, then why was the training session that the Army had offered him a full two _days_ long?

"Yeah, you know — like in 'Men in Black', when Reggie's wife is in labor? 'J' just waits for her to pop the baby out, then catches it as it comes flying at him. Of course, he almost dropped it, but hopefully your kid won't be as slippery, seeing as how it's not going to be some squid alien. Well, hopefully not. I mean, given all the other crazy shit that's gone down today…."

Wyatt considered Rufus' advice. _Catch the baby and don't drop it._ Yeah, OK, he could handle that. After all, he'd played football in high school, and newborns weren't much bigger than footballs, were they? "Catch the baby. Don't drop it. Got it." Wyatt huffed out a calming breath, and nodded to himself. For once today, maybe he could get something right. "Thanks, Rufus. You're the best. I definitely owe you a drink or five when all this is over." Clapping his buddy on the back, Wyatt sprinted down the hall towards the restroom to get cleaned up and changed.

Feeling a bit puffed up at having saved the day once again _(and more than a little relieved that his part in the whole Logan marriage-baby drama was just about finished)_ , Rufus picked a spot on the floor outside Lucy's room, and slumped into it. He leaned back against the wall behind him with an exhausted sigh. A drink or five sounded just about perfect right now, even if he would rather share them with Jiya than with Wyatt.

It wasn't even a full two minutes before Wyatt was back, odor-free _(thank goodness)_ and looking more positive and determined than Rufus had seen him all day. Things were, apparently, finally looking up for the guy. About damn time.

"Wish me luck," Wyatt called as he raced past Rufus into Lucy's room.

Rufus nodded, and then closed his eyes, grateful to finally get a moment of peace and relaxation. Just think - last night, he'd believed that Wyatt getting kicked off of the team or arrested was the worst possible consequence of them stealing the Lifeboat. If only he'd known what they were _really_ in for! Would he have still agreed to help his friend? Rufus smiled to himself, imagining the amazing life that was now within his two dearest friends' reach. Yes - when he thought of it that way, he would definitely do it all over again. In a heartbeat.

* * *

Wyatt slipped into the room, willing himself to remain calm and collected no matter how terribly Lucy reacted to his presence. He needn't have worried, though _(not about that, at least)_ , because she was absolutely overjoyed to see him walk in.

"Oh my gosh, Wyatt! Thank goodness you're back," she squealed from her resting place in the hospital bed, reaching her arms out towards him invitingly.

For the first time all day, Wyatt didn't allow himself to overthink things. Whatever other issues he still needed to resolve within himself, Lucy needed him now and, truth be told, he probably needed _her_ more. He strode quickly to her side, pressing a tender kiss to her sweat-soaked forehead as he leaned down to embrace her.

"Wyatt, we're having a baby," she whispered softly in his ear, as if it were an intimate secret that only the two of them should be privy to. Even if it wasn't _(not at this late stage anyway)_ , Wyatt allowed himself to imagine for a moment that it was — to bask in the overwhelming thrill of hearing those words tumble from Lucy's lips for the first time.

He wondered briefly how Lucy had broken the news of her pregnancy the first time around, and if 'other him' had felt even half as excited, honored, and utterly humbled by the fact that this amazing woman had chosen him to father her child as he himself did. Not that it mattered in this moment — _this_ moment was Wyatt's alone. But once this was all over, he would need to find that out and more.

While Lucy seemed happy to have him here now, whatever grievous injury Wyatt's alter-ego had caused her wasn't likely to just be forgotten overnight, was it? No, if they were going to have any kind of _real_ future together, Wyatt knew that he was going to have to work hard to heal the wounds of the past. Hopefully this, though — being with her as their child entered the world — would be a strong start in Lucy's eyes.

"Hey, you good?" Jiya nudged the couple, eager to _(finally)_ take her leave. Please say yes, she thought - _please_!

Wyatt pulled back and searched Lucy's face, needing to make sure that she was alright with him taking Jiya's place at her side for the duration. Lucy simply beamed up at him, and then tugged him back into her arms. "Yeah, we're good," he mumbled, smiling against Lucy's neck.

"Thank goodness for small miracles," Jiya muttered in relief. The phrase had practically become her mantra of the day, but little wonder considering how downright crazy this day had been.

Wyatt started to disentangle himself again from his wife _(his wife...man, he loved the sound of that!)_ so that he could thank Jiya for her help before she left, when Lucy suddenly stiffened in his arms.

"Oh god! Gotta push!" Lucy shrieked in Wyatt's ear, and then shoved him forcefully out of the way.

Wyatt stumbled backwards towards the foot of the bed, barely catching himself before he fell. He watched, uncomprehending, as Lucy rolled herself up slightly from the pillows, drawing her knees tightly up towards her chest, baring everything _(wow...umm...everything)_ he'd once believed that he'd never see in this lifetime to his startled eyes. "Umm…is that a…a head?" He tried to look away - wanted to look away _(oh how he wanted to look away) -_ but couldn't bring himself to do so. This...this was his life now with Lucy - real and in living _(vivid...oh so vivid)_ color, however shocking _(Was he blushing? Oh yeah, he was definitely blushing)_ it might be.

A doctor that Wyatt hadn't even previously noticed nudged him out the way, and leaned in to verify Wyatt's suspicions.

"Baby's crowning," the doctor announced excitedly. "You're doing great, Mrs. Logan, but no more pushing until I tell you to, OK? Just short, quick breaths like we talked about before."

"And _that's_ my cue! Good luck," Jiya called as she dashed for the door, exiting before Wyatt could even _think_ of asking her to stay.

* * *

Rufus had just started to doze off when a familiar pair of soft hands shook him awake. "Jiya." He smiled up at her affectionately.

"So…I guess this is what _childbirth_ looks like for the Logans," she snarked as she plopped down on the floor beside him. "Let's hope that they wait a few years at least before the next kid."

"Amen to _that_!" Rufus really couldn't agree more, though he planned to be at least a continent _(and maybe a century or two)_ away the next time. Assuming there ever was one.

"You did good, babe, by getting Wyatt back here." Jiya stroked his cheek lovingly. "I know he's a little freaked out right now, but I'm sure he'll thank you later. Lucy definitely will, at least."

He pulled her into a hug, and grinned against her neck, thankful to _(apparently)_ be back in her good graces. "Just as long as _you_ thank me later."

With an expression of mock outrage, Jiya punched him in the arm. "You're not off the hook yet. There's still the little matter of that coffee you promised me, which I _don't_ see by the way."

"Umm, about that…," Rufus prepared to grovel.

"Don't worry about it." She waved her hand, dismissing the need for him to say anything more. "I mean, after what we've both had to put up with today, and everything I just witnessed in _there_ …." With a full body shudder, she rolled her eyes pointedly at the door behind her. "I'm thinking a bottle of tequila sounds a lot better now anyway."

"What you just witnessed in there? What — did Lucy's head, like, spin all the way around or something?"

"Pretty dang close. Let just say that if Wyatt thought things were scary in there _before_ …." She broke off with a maniacal laugh.

Rufus looked at Jiya, then at Lucy's door, then back at Jiya. "Yeah, I'm just going to…." He slid a few feet down the wall, putting a safe distance between himself and both, just in case.

 **A/N: So Wyatt had his little freak-out in the last couple chapters. Sorry about that, but I wanted to stay true to his character, and as much as it's clear that he adores Lucy, I couldn't see him *not* having a total meltdown at some point. If it seems like I'm putting him through his paces, I am. After all, as he himself put it, 'the universe' would want him to work to earn this life, wouldn't it? And yes, maybe I'm channeling a little frustration at him for *not* fighting harder for Lucy in S2 - LOL! But it *will* all come good in the end. Wyatt and Lucy still have some things to resolve between them, but thankfully, Rufus and Jiya are still on the job. Aren't they the absolute best friends in the world? And Baby Logan is _definitely_ on its way, and about to rock everyone's worlds. :-)**


	8. Chapter 8

_Short-quick-breaths-don't-push. Short-quick-breaths-don't-push_. Lucy chanted the words in her head, willing her body to comply. It wasn't enough, though — not even _remotely_ close. Not when it felt as if the area between her legs was simultaneously being torn asunder _and_ cauterized by the fires of hell. Despite the doctor's orders, all that she wanted to do right now was expel the source of that misery from her body as quickly as possible.

"Wyatt," she screeched, "Wyatt, help!" If there was any moment in all of this that Lucy _truly_ needed him, it was this one. Besides, wasn't it his _job_ to help her focus — to distract her from the pain?

Though still a bit dazed by the unexpected visual confirmation of his impending fatherhood, Wyatt was at Lucy's side in an instant, responding instinctively to her cries, as he always did. "Help _how_ , Babydoll? Tell me what you need."

He cupped her face in his hands, stroking the beads of perspiration lovingly from her cheeks with his thumbs as he searched her wild eyes for answers. It broke his heart to see her suffering like this, and to know that it was his fault _(sort of — his alter-ego's anyway)_ that she was in this situation to start with.

"Talk," Lucy panted. "Something I don't know…random facts... _anything_. Oh god it HURTS," she howled. Digging her nails into her shins, she contorted her body as much as possible in search of the slightest modicum of relief.

Random facts? Something she didn't know? _Was_ there anything that Lucy didn't already know? The woman was like a walking, talking encyclopedia. "Uh…." Wyatt gnawed at his lower lip in agitation, smoothing the occasional stray curl from his wife's face with increasingly shaky hands as he wracked his brain for some bit of obscure trivia to ease her distress.

"You're almost done, honey. You just need to hang in there a little longer. You can do this," the nurse reassured Lucy as she bustled about the room preparing the equipment and other items that would be needed after Baby Logan's birth.

"I can't, I can't, I _can't_ ," Lucy wailed. "Wyatt!"

Wyatt's mind was drawing a total blank, his brain beginning to short-circuit at the sight and sound of the woman he loved in such agony. 'The woman he loved'…. Come to think of it, there _was_ one fact that he was absolutely certain that Lucy didn't know — a small but significant truth that was indelibly written in history, though not in any book that she could possibly have read. The question was, could he actually bring himself to tell her?

He looked around the room, spying the clear, wheeled bassinet that the nurse was now lining with a soft-looking pad. It was yet another visual reminder of what _(and who)_ was coming — of how much further along in his relationship with Lucy 'other him' had been. Had _that_ guy ever told her?

Wyatt wished like hell that he could somehow access his counterpart's memories. Then again, he really didn't need to in this case, did he? Based on the things that Lucy had accused him of earlier, and that little tidbit that Rufus had let slip, 'other Wyatt' had never completely gotten over Jessica. If that were true, then his doppelganger would _never_ have shared with Lucy the particular fact that Wyatt now realized she needed to hear.

"Hey Lucy." He waited until her eyes locked with his, and then slid his hands gently behind her head, holding her in place so that she couldn't look away. "Want to know a secret?"

Lucy nodded. Yeah, secrets were good. Secrets could be _very_ distracting, especially the juicy ones. "Is it the one…about how…," she huffed and puffed, "Agent Christopher…caught Jiya and Rufus…naked in the Lifeboat…last week?"

Wyatt quirked an amused eyebrow at Lucy and chuckled. "She did, huh? Well we'll _definitely_ have to give Rufus a hard time about _that_ later. But no, that wasn't the secret I had in mind."

Lucy moaned and squirmed as she waited for Wyatt to continue.

"Try to hold still, Mrs. Logan. I know it's hard, but your baby's head is almost out. You're doing great. Just keep breathing until I tell you to push again. Breathe, breathe, breathe," the doctor directed.

Momentarily distracted, Wyatt glanced down past Lucy's legs. If the baby's head was almost out, then he probably needed to get down there pretty soon to catch it, didn't he? He really didn't want to let Lucy down by not doing his part, especially considering how he'd abandoned her earlier.

"Wyatt," Lucy wheezed, trying to draw his attention back to her. She noted the way he kept glancing anxiously between her and the doctor, and puzzled over the sudden shift in his stance, as if he were preparing to race off at any moment.

 _Oh no._ He was _not_ thinking about running out on her _again_ , was he? _Now?_ When their child was maybe a minute or two away from being born? No way, not happening, uh-uh. She'd already put up with enough of that crap from him in the last 24 hours. Like it or not, the man was _going_ to stay and see this through. Whatever other issues they might need to resolve between them, the fact was that she hadn't _made_ this baby alone, and she damn well wasn't going to _birth_ it alone.

"Wyatt Logan!" She mustered her best 'angry professor' voice, thankful when his aquamarine eyes finally settled fully on hers. "Don't even _think_ about running out that door again."

"What?" He scoffed at her. "Lucy, no. I'm not going anywhere — just getting ready to catch the baby."

Lucy's brows furrowed in confusion. "Catch the…. Wyatt, what the _hell_ are you talking about?"

"Doing my job. Rufus said I'm supposed to wait until the baby pops out, then catch it, and try not to drop it." Wyatt heard the sound of muffled laughter, and looked down towards the doctor again. The man glanced up at Wyatt briefly, his shoulders shaking. Although his mouth was hidden behind a mask, Wyatt could see the obvious mirth in the doctor's eyes. Wyatt looked over at the nurse, noting that she, too, was giggling. _Oh._

He blushed and rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment at how gullible he'd been to fall for Rufus' inanely simple explanation of his expected role. Clearly Rufus had been pulling his leg, and Wyatt had been far too stressed to even question it. Well payback was a bitch, wasn't it? Sooner or later Rufus would need Wyatt's expertise, and Wyatt would be the one to have the last laugh. Then again, maybe he deserved this, considering everything that he'd put Rufus _(not to mention Jiya and, of course, Lucy_ ) through today.

Wyatt turned back to his wife, who was now studying him through narrowed eyes. "Sorry." He chuckled self-deprecatingly. "I, uh, skipped that particular training module. Didn't exactly think I'd be needing it anytime soon."

"So what's the…," Lucy trailed off, an unexpected shriek bursting from her lungs _(dang_ \- _that kid's head must be the size of a watermelon, by the feel of it - and every bit as hard as Wyatt's, too)_. "Secret?" she gasped, _needing_ now to know, though she suspected that she already did. Something to do with Wyatt's long delay in getting to the hospital…the way that he'd run out on her earlier as if petrified by the thought of touching her…his total lack of understanding of the childbirth process…oh, and that swollen, mottled patch of black and crimson around his eye.

Right. How could he have forgotten? Wyatt swallowed hard against the knot suddenly growing in his throat, reminding himself that Lucy _needed_ to know this. Time to rip off the band-aid, so to speak, and just do what he should have done a long time ago.

He leaned down and caressed one of her delicately sculpted cheekbones with the back of his hand, gliding his thumb slowly over the lower lip she was now nibbling at. "Remember that night in Arkansas, with Bonnie and Clyde? When I…we kissed?"

Lucy nodded. How could she ever forget? That kiss had been the impetus for all of this, after all. Though Wyatt had tried to pass it off hours later as 'just playing a role', she had promptly called 'bullshit'. Which, of course, had led to the heated argument that had then led to their frantic _(and unprotected)_ lovemaking in the changing room at Mason Industries that ultimately landed them here.

"Afterwards," Wyatt continued, "You said you didn't know if you believed in fate when it came to love, because you'd never felt a lightning bolt from the heavens. And I…I said I had." He took a deep, fortifying breath, pressed his forehead to hers, and went for broke. "But I…. I wasn't talking about Jessica. You're my lightning bolt, Lucy. The first and only one ever."

"Wh-what?" Lucy gasped. She pulled back, frantically searching his eyes. That was not at all what she'd been expecting him to say, and it only added to her suspicions. Something was definitely 'off' with Wyatt for him to have ever admitted something like that. But _damn_ if it didn't send her heart soaring into the clouds and beyond.

"I love you, Lucy," he whispered raggedly. "For a long time now. So much it scares the crap out of me, because if I ever lost you…."

Lucy cut him off, throwing her arms around his neck, and pressing a soft kiss to his lips. Before Wyatt could even think to respond, she squealed against his mouth and pulled away, instantly recognizing a very important change in her body.

"Alright, Mrs. Logan. The head is out. Give me one last big push, and get ready to hold your baby," the doctor commanded.

"Oh! Look at all that hair! And those sweet little cheeks!" the nurse exclaimed happily.

Lucy took a deep breath, as much to prepare to push their child into the world as to psych herself up for the new roles she and Wyatt were about to assume. Wyatt inhaled right along with her, staring deep into her eyes, every ounce of his love for her _(finally)_ on display for anyone who cared to look to see.

"Ready?" he asked her, squeezing both of her hands encouragingly in his.

Lucy nodded.

Though neither of them was quite sure how they were going to manage to care for another little life when their own were such a mess, they had never backed down from a challenge before, and they weren't about to now.

Katherine Elizabeth Logan _(they'd call her 'Kate' for short, in honor of the poor, doomed newspaper reporter who had - they both agreed - played an important role in bringing them together)_ made her debut at 11:57 AM _(just in time for lunch, as Lucy's nurse informed her as the doctor laid the squalling, squirming infant on her mother's belly for the first time)_.

With a full head of dark, cherry-wood curls like her mama's, eyes the same sparkling, ocean blue as her daddy's _("They'll change," the doctor argued, but, "Not when they're that clear already," the nurse countered)_ , and two astoundingly chubby cheeks that neither parent could account for, baby Kate was the most beautiful sight that Lucy and Wyatt had ever seen _(and that was saying a lot, considering all of the many sights that they had seen in their travels through time and history together)_.

Later, after all of the necessary tests had been run — after little miss Kate had been declared to be in perfect health, and the medical staff had _(finally!)_ vacated the premises — Wyatt sat and rocked his daughter while the love of his life took a much-deserved, much-needed nap. Though not at all eager to wake the sleeping infant _(his darling baby girl had a set of lungs on her to rival angry Lucy's any day and then some)_ , he couldn't resist loosening her blanket to examine her 10 delicate fingers and 10 adorable toes. How had he and Lucy, with all of their many imperfections, created something so unquestionably perfect, he wondered.

"Maybe it really _is_ a gift from the universe," Rufus mused, reaching out to run a finger gently along one of the baby's plump, rosy cheeks.

"She's beautiful, Wyatt. You and Lucy did _so good_ ," Jiya whispered, not wanting to wake her slumbering friend any more than Wyatt wanted to wake his daughter.

Wyatt startled, and peered up at his two best friends in the whole world _(outside of Lucy, of course)_. He hadn't heard them come in, but felt immensely grateful for their presence. If not for their help, who knew where he'd be now. Married to a woman who was not, in fact, the love of his life? In total denial of and on the run from his only-ever lightning bolt from the heavens? Maybe even cosmic fish food, if poor Martin's story was to be believed? Regardless, he wouldn't be _here_ \- with the woman that he loved more than he'd ever dreamed that he _could_ love someone, and a precious miracle of a daughter to boot.

"Thank you. Both of you," Wyatt rasped, his throat clogging with emotions that he couldn't even put a name to yet. "Thank you for bringing me _home_." Because he _was_ home, wasn't he – finally? How else could he describe the absolute rightness of this life with Lucy that he had unwittingly stepped into?

"You deserve it, buddy," Rufus assured him. "After everything you went through with losing Jessica…. I can't even begin to imagine what that was like for you. But if anyone deserves some happiness, it's you. And Lucy, of course. I mean, things haven't exactly been easy for her either. I'm just glad you could find it together. Oh, and by the way, thanks. I won the bet."

"Bet?" Wyatt was touched beyond words by Rufus' sentiment, but had absolutely no idea what 'bet' his friend was referring to.

"Yeah – Agent Christopher, Mason, Jiya, and I _might_ have placed a little wager," Rufus reluctantly admitted, "Very small, mind you – on how long it would take you and Lucy to figure out that you were meant to be together. Although, technically, that was in our original timeline, so it's not like I'll actually get the money or anything. Still, I was betting on September, and what do you know – September 27th. Thanks, man, and, uh, congratulations. She really is beautiful, Wyatt. You're going to need to, like, meet all her dates at the door with a loaded gun in hand."

Wyatt chuckled. "What - you think I'm going to let Kate date before she's 35? " After all, Lucy was only 34, and look where _she_ had ended up — stuck with a broken, sorry-ass excuse for a husband like him, and a baby who…. "OK, _maybe_ 34," he amended, stroking the wild, wispy curls away from his daughter's flawless forehead, much as he had her mother's a few hours before.

"Hey, I hear that Mason has some, like, really top-notch software for running background checks," Jiya teased. "Who needs a gun, when you can just pull up every phone call her dates have ever made, every email they've ever sent, every 'willy' pic they've ever sexted?"

"Willy pics?" Wyatt's eyes widened in alarm, as he clutched the perfect little angel now dozing in his arms tighter to his chest. _No way_ was he _ever_ letting Kate date. Maybe he'd just lock her in a tower like Rapunzel. Yeah, that could _definitely_ work. Especially if he stationed a few of his Delta Force buddies around the perimeter.

"She'll date when _she's_ ready to, and you'll just have to deal with it," Lucy admonished Wyatt groggily, joining the conversation. Though she could have done with a little more rest, she, too, was grateful that Rufus and Jiya had finally stopped by to meet her and Wyatt's daughter _(arguably the greatest accomplishment of their lives)._

"You tell him, Lucy," Jiya giggled, grateful to hear her friend finally back to being the sensible yet witty woman she knew and loved. _(Mercury enemas and rectal blisters - seriously? Jiya was still blushing at the thought of some of the all-too-intimate tortures that Lucy had threatened to inflict on Wyatt while she was in labor.)_

"But Lucy…," Wyatt whined.

"Shut up and bring me my baby," Lucy insisted, eager now to cuddle and examine the infant that she had carried within her own body for the last nine months.

" _Your_ baby?" Wyatt teased, even as he stood from the chair and approached Lucy's bedside. "You mean _my_ baby, right? I seem to recall someone insisting that she _wasn't_ having a baby today - or _ever_ for that matter."

"Are you _ever_ going to let me live that down," Lucy groaned, clutching the child in question securely in her arms, and pressing a tender kiss to her husband's lips.

"Nope!" Wyatt, Rufus, and Jiya answered simultaneously. And they never did, much to Lucy's _(and, much later, to Kate's)_ chagrin.

 **A/N: Thanks for taking this imaginary journey with me through my first-ever fanfic, and for all the wonderful encouragement along the way. While Wyatt and Lucy still have some issues to work through (Lucy *definitely* suspects something is 'off' with her husband, and Wyatt is beginning to suspect that all may not be as it seems with Lucy either), I'm calling this one 'done' for the time being. But expect a sequel, because, really, with Wyatt and Lucy as parents, not to mention the influence of Rufus of and Jiya? You *know* Baby Kate is going to be a handful! Plus there's the little matter of the payback Rufus deserves for leading Wyatt astray on the whole 'catch the baby, don't drop it' incident. Not to mention that secret Lucy mentioned about Agent Christopher catching Rufus and Jiya nekkid in the Lifeboat (say what?!). In the meantime, I have *so* many other ideas for these characters. They have truly captured my soul, and I sincerely hope that, despite the heartbreaking cancellation of this amazing show, you'll continue to journey along with me and them. Together, we can keep TIMELESS alive, NBC be damned!**


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